Do Well by Doing Good

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Do Well By Doing Good A guide for bringing social impact to your brand 2018 Whitepaper On January 28, 2017, the Trump Administration announced an executive order barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, an act widely known as the Muslim Ban. Over the next few hours, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sought to show its support for affected immigrants through stopping taxi service at JFK airport. But Uber, the ride hailing service, was seen as trying to undercut the protest by eliminating its surge pricing at the same time.1 The social media hashtag #DeleteUber took off and, by some estimates, the service lost hundreds of thousands of customers in just a few days. It’s not clear that Uber’s intent was to break the protest, but its brand perception was already badly tarnished, and it did nothing to help its reputation either before or after the incident. While this could be seen as simple mismanagement of a corporate communications fiasco, the truth is much deeper. It was a highly visible example of the fact the today’s consumers overwhelmingly care about the social impact of the brands they support and the products they buy.

1 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/29/14431246/uber-trump-muslim-ban 2 WHY SOCIAL IMPACT MATTERS

“One very positive trend I see is a growing recognition that doing good in the world is good for companies. The question is no longer whether the private sector should be participating in social initiatives, but rather how best they should do so… This goes beyond tech across all industries. We’re seeing a generational change taking place that’s driven by a search for meaning.”

David Fischer VP Business and Marketing Partnerships, Facebook2

2 http://adage.com/article/the-ad-council/facebook-s-david-fischer-talks-fundamental-shift-purpose-driven-marketing/312464/?utm_ visit=2219263

3 We live in a new age of activism. Millennials, the first and many other things, but since they are now the digital generation, are now the largest living one, significant majority, it may be best to simply call them and research has shown that they vote for brands consumers and assume that those who do not yet that match their social values with their skills, time, consider impact in their purchases are the ones that attention, and dollars. need a special name. A 2017 report by Cone Communications, a While the concept of cause-based marketing or Porter Novelli company specializing in social cause-based affiliation for brands isn’t new, it is impact marketing, shows that 71% of Millennials transforming. The winning brands of the future are have lost faith in other institutions and are looking those that realize that bringing social impact into their to companies to take the lead on social issues. core is no longer niche cause marketing — it’s simply Moreover, 89% will choose between comparable marketing that recognizes that the world is changing. brands based on whether one of them supports Very few messages can cut through the ad blockers a good cause.3 Edelman’s Earned Brand 2017 on phones or between people’s ears. But consumers report contains similar findings. Both show the are still open to hearing about and participating steep acceleration of a 25-year trend of consumers with companies and products that make the world considering social impact to be a key part of their better. Brands are increasingly recognizing this, and purchasing decisions, and related research shows a the cause marketing industry has grown from $700 newer trend of desirable high-skilled workers deciding million in 2000 to more than $2 billion in 2017.4 And it between employers for the same reason. is poised to grow even more rapidly as many current It is no longer enough for brands to rest on trends take hold. corporate social responsibility, sustainable This review seeks to explore this trend and present practices, good governance, and good corporate a kick-start guide for brands trying to navigate citizenship. Consumers want leadership on social and this revolution. It is intended for marketers, brand environmental issues, and they want that leadership strategists, and other business executives who are to be integral to the brands they buy, love, advocate, actively developing their companies’ paths forward on and promote. These consumers have been called social issues and social impact marketing. belief-driven consumers, social impact consumers,

3 http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2017-csr-study 4 https://causegood.com/blog/cause-marketing-statistics/ 4 NOTE ON NOMENCLATURE

In this guide “cause marketing,” “social impact marketing,” and other related terms are used interchangeably. Although each term has its proponents and there may be some differences between them, we think their similarities outweigh potential differences, so this is done for simplicity.

THREE REASONS FOR SOCIAL IMPACT

While many companies have long engaged in some form of social impact out of altruism, very few find that to be a sustainable practice. Ultimately, when there is pressure on growth or profits, those programs are the first to go. And in order to commit substantial resources, executives need to tie social impact activities to the success of their businesses. For that reason (and to develop a successful program), companies should identify which combination of the three primary business purposes their social impact activities serve: attracting and retaining customers, attracting and retaining employees, or providing more reputational resilience in the case of bad news.

6 “We have entered an era where businesses are expected to lead. The best companies are willing to stand for something, a remarkable evolution from a time when corporations placed profit above all else.” John Battelle, Co-founder and CEO, NewCo

Attracting and Retaining Customers Attracting and Retaining Employees One reason for a company to have a social impact According to the Deloitte Millennial Survey,5 program is to attract and retain customers. With the “Millennials feel accountable for many issues in both great majority of Americans stating a preference for the workplace and the wider world. However, it is brands that agree with their values, social impact is primarily in and via the workplace that they feel most increasingly important as a differentiator. It is also able to make an impact.” It goes on to show that one of the most effective ways to move a customer 45% more Millennials will stay in a job more than five from brand loyalty to brand advocate. According to years if that job offers an opportunity to make an the Cone report, 81% of people would tell a friend impact. Indeed, many large corporations like Johnson about a company’s social impact work. As brands & Johnson are using social impact as a recruiting tool become increasingly reliant on social media as the for highly talented younger workers.6 new word-of-mouth, finding something shareable and conversational is ever more important. Cause Reputational Resilience marketing represents one of the few ways to actively There are often times when, despite no ill intent, move people from the loyalty to the advocacy stages companies end up in bad situations. It may occur of a sales funnel. through thoughtlessness (as Uber claimed in the Muslim Ban incident), the actions of a few individuals (like the dragging of a passenger off a United Airlines flight7), or a preventable disaster (like the Equifax data breach8), but in most cases people form an opinion immediately upon hearing the news. A company with a good reputation can be spared the worst in a period of bad publicity, getting the benefit of the doubt from consumers aware of its good reputation. This is particularly important in industries with relatively high reputational risk. According to both Cone and Edelman, approximately 48% of cause-focused consumers say they will defend a brand against critics.

5 https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html 6 https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/jnj-credo 7 https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/10/travel/passenger-removed-united-flight-trnd/index.html 8 http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/09/pf/equifax-hack-senate-disclosure 7 KICKSTARTING CAUSE Once an organization has made a commitment to making social impact a priority, the next question is how to do it.

8 When Should an Organization Think also far beyond, ranging from climate change About Cause? and immigration to gun control and gender- inclusive bathrooms. All stakeholders, especially The general answer to this is: as early as possible, consumers and employees, are looking to or ideally at the time an organization achieves companies to authentically lead on issues that product market fit, so it’s clearly aware of who its are important to them.” stakeholders are. A brand that embraces cause early builds a company culture that is truly reflective of Alison DaSilva, EVP CSR & Purpose, that cause, whereas one that chooses a cause later Cone Communications can face issues ranging from a lack of buy-in at every level to potential conflict about previous business A cause is a social issue. For centuries, businesses decisions and policies. While social impact can seem have assigned the work of cause to nonprofit like a nice-to-have for an entrepreneur trying to organizations. One pitfall of conflating cause with build a new business or a big corporation launching nonprofits, though, is that there are many things a a new product division, it — like diversity, non- company can stand for that are not well-represented discrimination, or sustainability — is harder to bring in the nonprofit world. One way to see this is by into a corporate culture after that culture has formed looking at the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,10 (though suggestions for how to do this are included a common framework that companies use to think under Making the Case for Cause, below.) about cause. The organizations that most successfully embrace Many of those goals do not clearly map to a social impact are those that make it part of their story nonprofit, and brands that use the framework often from the very beginning. Consider Etsy, Patagonia, end up taking on cause-related work themselves.11 or Tom’s Shoes. It’s nearly impossible to think of any For example, Comcast’s Internet Essentials program of them without their impact stories. On the other provides highly discounted Internet access for low hand, companies that introduce social impact later income households as a way of addressing the run the risk of having their work regarded as a “bolt Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure goal, and BNY on,” added for marketing effect and not bearing any Mellon is creating gender-lens investment vehicles degree of authenticity. as part of its work on Gender Equality.12 A cause is This idea of authenticity comes up frequently in something that is fundamentally pro-social, but cause discussions around brand and cause.9 In almost all work is not — and should not be — restricted to cause-related decisions, it should be the acid test. Is nonprofit organizations. this activity authentic to what the company stands for? Is there a risk of seeming hypocritical or scattered? It’s How Should Companies Select a Cause? a qualitative assessment, but a very successful one. What should a company choose to stand for? This What is a Cause? decision will be driven in part by which of the three reasons for social impact drove it to want to adopt a cause. Many software companies are constrained “Company engagement in social issues is no by the availability of good engineers, for example, longer limited to giving or volunteerism, it has and therefore see cause work as a way of attracting evolved to the positive role companies can play employees. This has led many of them to adopt in society overall. This now includes addressing immigration as a cause, although sometimes clumsily, issues both related to operational footprint but

9 http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/4-keys-to-creating-cause-marketing-that-benefits-both-brands-and-nonprofits/ 10 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ 11 http://sdgfunders.org/blog/how-17-companies-are-tackling-sustainable-development-goals-and-your-company-can-too/ 12 https://www.bnymellon.com/us/en/_locale-assets/pdf/csr/return-on-equality-infographic.pdf 9 as with Mark Zuckerberg’s organization FWD.us.13 next to their logo in the public eye. Shinola, the luxury watchmaker with the “Built in After a lack of authenticity, the most serious risk in Detroit” tagline, followed an attract-customers picking a cause is trying to avoid making the choice at strategy by making itself stand for the American all. For example, Amazon Smile generates relatively heartland, grit, and supporting hard-working little actual loyalty, though it does get Amazon some Midwestern people. While this isn’t a charitable free promotion from nonprofits. Customer-driven cause, it’s certainly something Shinola purchasers programs like grocery store bag refund donations to see as social impact.14 The aviation industry perhaps community-suggested charities experience the same best reflects social impact to offset reputational risk. issue. By changing causes constantly, the grocery For the most part, it has focused on environmental store’s brand gets a general gloss of good citizenship, issues to offset criticism when airlines look for airport but loses the opportunity to gain real benefit from concessions or get criticized for noise and pollution.15 strong and continued association with a specific In all cases, authenticity is the critical test. While cause. some cause strategies have performed better than others, all are linked directly to the stances, Risk and Conflict Avoidance brand personalities, and value propositions of the In one Chicago office building, the management companies adopting them. To succeed with a chosen company proudly posted a sign about the money cause, companies must be convinced that their it had raised for cancer research. This placement marketing message can be intrinsically linked to it, fails the authenticity test (what does a building that the effects of that linking will be desirable, and management company have to do with cancer?), and that they will be comfortable positioning that cause so sparks the question as to why the company chose

13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FWD.us 14 https://www.gq.com/story/shinola-ftc-rulling-made-in-detroit-problem. Shinola also benefited from the insurance aspect of social impact - even when it became clear that its watch movements were built overseas and the FTC pushed back on its “Built In Detroit” slogan, its Detroit- based factory and story made its fans mostly overlook the controversy and kept it the “Coolest brand in America.” http://www.adweek.com/brand- marketing/how-shinola-went-shoe-polish-coolest-brand-america-165459/ 15 https://www.brookfieldav.com/single-post/2017/02/24/The-Shift-of-the-Airline-Industry-to-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-CSR 10 that cause. The reason is most likely risk avoidance. than a mealy-mouthed response that pleases none or When companies decide to embrace a cause, disappoints some. they frequently adopt one like fighting hunger or cancer to which no one can reasonably object. Taking Find A Cause Where You Can Give More corporate stands on more politicized issues like Than Money violence, immigration, and climate carry the risk of Another key thing for a brand to consider when offending clients, customers, investors, or potential choosing a cause is whether the company can employees that cause activity was meant to attract. provide support other than just money. If the only But giving a small percentage of revenues to a single, contribution is financial, customers often find well-established, non-controversial charity may do themselves asking why the company doesn’t just little for a brand unless that charity is incontrovertibly reduce its prices and let the customer decide how to authentic for that brand. And if the goal is to build give. Examples of more-than-money contributions brand advocates, it’s important to remember that include expertise, capabilities, and economies of people’s positive response is much stronger when a scale. For example, United Airlines provides planes company is perceived as taking a brave rather than a and crews to support relief efforts during natural safe stance. It’s also often bad for a company to avoid disasters. Similarly, Lyft has provided evacuation taking a position on controversial issues that affect services for people in hurricane zones. And, though its core business, since brands can be boycotted for sometimes controversial, buy-one-give-one programs silence as well as for a position. Edelman’s data show like Tom’s Shoes seek to take advantage of their that 65% of belief-driven buyers will not buy a brand manufacturing scale to provide free products to those if it stays silent on an issue that they feel it had an in need. obligation to address. A good example of courage around cause is in REI Picking a Beneficiary and Patagonia’s response to the US government’s Although cause and nonprofit organizations are decision to greatly reduce the size of two national not the same thing, nonprofits still have an important monuments in Utah.16 REI used part of its homepage role to play in many cases. They provide expertise, to send the message: “Despite the loss of millions existing programs, and often well-established vehicles of acres of protected lands this week, REI will for corporate participation. In picking a beneficiary continue to advocate for the places we all love.” organization, it’s important to find one that aligns as Patagonia, getting straight to the point, went all- much as possible with a brand’s values, since a close in with a takeover banner reading, “The President partnership can come under pressure from both the Stole Your Land.” Both of these formulations might brand and nonprofit sides. For example, brands that be considered reckless, given that the companies promoted the Red Cross for disaster relief faced were attacking the action of a sitting president who pressure when allegations of waste surfaced in the was very popular with his base. In fact, though, both wake of Hurricane Sandy,17 and brands promoting companies got media plaudits and much support, the Salvation Army came under pressure after it was including viral social media reactions, from their widely alleged to be anti-gay.18 Since brands have customers. Because of their unassailable credibility relatively little power to change perceptions about as brands associated with the outdoors, their bold their nonprofit partners, it’s best to do some diligence words read as completely authentic responses and before tying the knot. not publicity stunts. Often, as in these cases, a strong Another reason to choose a cause first and a stance enthusiastically received by many is better nonprofit partner second is that most people prefer

16 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/05/the-president-stole-your-land-patagonia-rei-blast-trump-on- national-monument-rollbacks/?utm_term=.d507d3915e7a 17 https://www.propublica.org/article/the-red-cross-secret-disaster 18 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/zinnia-jones/the-salvation-armys-histo_b_4422938.html 11 to give to local organizations that they know and trust. efficiency rather than reach, sentiment, or the other According to the Giving In Chicago survey (one of metrics mentioned elsewhere in this guide. For the largest regional surveys in charitable giving ever these reasons and others, nonprofits prefer long- conducted in the United States), approximately 67% term (multi-year) commitments and some degree of of people prefer giving locally.19 Taken in conjunction predictability. The more straightforward a company with growing Millennial distrust of big institutions,20 can make its expectations, the better. there’s a strong case for supporting a group of Once volunteering enters the mix, there are regional organizations working on a cause rather other dimensions to be considered. Few nonprofits than a single national one. This is especially true for have straightforward task needs that don’t require smaller companies addressing common cause areas. screening, training, or regular commitment. They also The handful of big national organizations working often lack physical facilities that can absorb lots of on those causes pay little attention to partners additional people on an irregular basis. While days who aren’t providing millions of dollars per year in of action play well from a corporate perspective, they support, whereas a smaller organization can often do are most often a nuisance to a nonprofit. Generally, significant work with several thousand. Additionally, nonprofits see these events either as prospecting finding employee volunteer opportunities is often (they hope the employees will donate or return as easier with smaller, more local organizations. regular volunteers) or as a service they provide to Managing a group of beneficiaries is not as the brand (team building) and for which they should complex as it sounds. There are now tools for receive a fee. Continuous engagement is a better simplifying the task, and (as described in the section model for everyone — employees, participating on selecting a cause) the ability to choose multiple customers, and nonprofits. It allows corporate beneficiaries should not be an excuse for lack of focus managers to plan for their employees’ absences in cause selection. and nonprofits to count on regular participation so they can invest in training and oversight, and is also Being a Good Partner more meaningful for employees who don’t feel that While cause done right can be beneficial to a brand, their impact is limited to once a year. Continuous a brand can also be minimally helpful or even harmful engagement can be more challenging and requires to a partner nonprofit. Nonprofits generally lack the implementation of a plan much like marketing a resources of corporate marketing departments, and cause, but it is well worth doing. funders often judge them on the basis of operational

19 https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/files/file/giving_in_chicago_report.pdf 20 https://www.vox.com/2016/9/28/13062286/millennials-confidence-in-government 12 CAUSES & KPIS “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Peter Drucker

13 An all-too-common story is that of a company metric that benefits from a larger number of brand that wants to orient around cause, has a lot of advocates, which is a common and reasonable goal conversations, generates activity, and possibly even for a cause-based campaign. NPS is a very broad adds a hire or two, but never successfully makes measure, so it takes a sustained effort to move it cause a core and contributing part of its brand. This significantly. However, there is a correlation between generally happens when cause was not tied directly those who respond to a cause campaign and those to the metrics that drive the business. Product teams who become advocates. For that reason, a more deciding how to allocate engineering resources, granular leading indicator is often the number of or marketing teams determining how much spend people who actively connect with a cause-based a campaign will get, tend to make those decisions campaign. There are tools for measuring this as well. based on whether the outcome will boost the What makes cause relatively unique is that it is numbers by which their success is measured. “Nice one of the only ways to push a campaign that can to haves” seldom happen unless they have a tireless generate advocates. Other things that tend to internal advocate (usually an executive), and that generate advocates, like a great customer experience, advocacy is difficult to sustain. But cause is different mostly happen in response to customer interest. than direct marketing. Providing a boost to a social Traditional marketing has little impact on NPS (people impact campaign will probably not result in more seldom become promoters as a result of seeing an immediate buyers, and if a conversion-focused ad), but because cause can create advocates (45% message is included in a cause-based campaign, of people will actively promote a company due to its it often results in backlash. An example of this was social impact24), it represents one of the only channels Dodge using a Martin Luther King sermon in an ad for “pushing” people from the loyalty to advocacy for trucks during the 2018 Super Bowl.21 stages of a marketing funnel (i.e. creating brand But if social impact can’t be tied to direct sales, advocates) and thus does have the ability to move the what KPIs are relevant in measuring the impact NPS. of cause on a brand? There are a lot of new and innovative ideas, and there are also some traditional Employee Net Promoter Score or metrics that offer a place to start. Employee Satisfaction Index

Net Promoter Score Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI) are analogous to net promoter Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a popular metric for score, but target employees rather than customers. getting a sense of how people feel about a brand Since employees are often more patient and overall. Measuring and improving NPS is well engaged when it comes to answering surveys, ESI is worthwhile — according to Bain & Company, the composed of three questions and often embedded loyalty leader in a given category enjoys more in a larger survey. Questions directly measuring than 200% the cumulative annual growth rate and employee response to cause can be included in such 15% lower costs than the average company in that surveys as well. ESI and eNPS are ways of measuring category.22 NPS is intended to encapsulate many overall workplace satisfaction, and are frequently elements, ranging from service to quality to brand correlated to employee turnover and productivity. perception. Since NPS is calculated by taking the Since the cost of replacing an employee can range up percentage of brand promoters and subtracting to 40% of their annual salary, improving retention is a the percentage of brand detractors,23 it’s a core big deal. Social impact is also a relatively inexpensive

21 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/business/media/mlk-commercial-ram-dodge.html 22 https://www.taprootfoundation.org/sites/default/files/imce/260214%20Taproot%20FINAL%20for%20Distribution.pdf. The cost reduction is presumably due to lower sales and marketing costs, though the study doesn’t draw that causal line directly. 23 https://www.medallia.com/net-promoter-score/ 24 http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2017-csr-study 14 way of increasing employee satisfaction relative to have the advantage of being measured passively and increasing salary or benefits, and often just as — or continuously rather than through user interaction. The more — effective.25 disadvantage of influence metrics is that individual social media mentions may need to be analyzed for Impact Net Promoter Score sentiment. When Pepsi aired an ad accused of Because NPS and eNPS are diffuse measures that trivializing Black Lives Matter, social media users were incorporate many different elements of brand as likely to share it because it outraged them as 27 perception, the data science team at Public Good because they liked it. This resulted in a huge has started using a new measure: the Impact amount of social media activity, much of which Net Promoter Score or iNPS. Like other NPS looked like this: measurements, iNPS is based a single question: How likely is it that you would recommend the social impact of our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? iNPS is meant to be used as a leading indicator of a potential change to NPS that zeros in a company’s cause-based programs.

Influencer Marketing KPIs

26 Influencer-based marketing metrics also translate While the massive amount of sharing might seem well to the world of cause. These include low level like a success to a marketer using only influencer and metrics like social media mentions and reach as well brand impression KPIs, erasing a negative image like as higher level metrics like engagement velocity and that takes a very long time. engagement rate. Like iNPS, these KPIs are leading indicators of a change in brand perception, but they

25 https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2014/10/02/millennials-work-for-purpose-not-paycheck/#4635febc6a51 26 https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/04/21/how-to-measure-the-roi-of-an-influencer-marketing-campaign/#4533df2e6348 27 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/business/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad.html 15 MARKETING CAUSE “Getting a consumer to take a prosocial action alongside a brand is the holy grail of social impact marketing.”

Jay Porter, President, Edelman Chicago

16 While cause done right has the potential to build Narrative customer and employee advocates, it needs Generally, the most effective way to promote cause promotion to succeed. This notion can cause work is through storytelling and narrative. This can deep distress to traditionalists, who may feel include amplifying the stories of individuals affected uncomfortable promoting a business’s social impact by a brand’s or its partners’ work. It can also include because taking credit for charitable work seems stories from employees or customers explaining improper.28 While there is nothing wrong with why the brand’s cause work is meaningful to them or anonymous or unpromoted giving, these concepts do fundamental to their experience with the product. not map well to 21st-century brands and companies. More generic, aspirational messaging tends to be less Customers want to know where a company stands effective. on issues, and if the company’s cause is authentic One company that does this with particular agility is it is a fundamental part of the brand story. Often, Starbucks.30 They have deftly woven together content as in the case of Patagonia and REI, the biggest about their various cause-related efforts (including way for a brand to have impact is simply to take a green/fair/sustainable products, hiring refugees, position and broadcast it rather than to attempt to and donating surplus food) into the social impact intervene directly. And even if unpromoted giving is section of their website, and have promoted social morally superior, it’s usually unsustainable for many impact as a top level category on a par with coffee reasons already discussed, resulting in companies and tea. They’ve even developed a distinct Starbucks abandoning their cause-related efforts at the first Channel,31 an embodiment of the idea that every whiff of a headwind. Unpromoted cause work runs brand is now a media company.32 the risk of being the perfect that’s the enemy of the Another exciting area of development is in good. sponsored content. While changes in the news The flip side of this, however, is that cause and industry have made seeking earned media much direct response marketing can be a dangerous more difficult, virtually every major publisher offers combination. Some campaigns, like the (RED) anti- sponsored content as a marketing tool.33 Sponsored AIDS program,29 have made shopping for certain content allows a “push” platform for cause that products the actual way to achieve impact, but for can get it in front of a lot more people than a most cause campaigns people can feel manipulated brand’s native corporate blog, website, or social if the ask to buy something is too close to a brand’s feed. Sponsored content also allows for the same messaging about its cause work. This can be a difficult optimization and trackability as other forms of digital needle to thread. On the one hand, unpromoted marketing when combined with state of the art tools. cause work is a you-built-it-and-they-didn’t-come Many channels use the same editorial teams and scenario. On the other, too much self-congratulation writers for sponsored content as for native news, or direct product promotion can make cause feel like and some even use similar journalistic standards (the a stunt rather than genuine. Fortunately, there are sponsor can pick what the story is about, but nothing good methods of achieving a balance. more.) This kind of content can be an extremely effectively way of spreading the word about cause,

28 Such beliefs run deep and are fundamental to many spiritual and cultural traditions. For example, the 12th century Jewish scholar Maimonides formulated an entire hierarchy of giving based in substantial part on whether the giver and recipient are known to each other, and his ideas are still fundamental in Jewish education today (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/eight-levels-of-charitable-giving). Related traditions in American life are explored thoroughly in Dan Pallotta’s book Uncharitable (https://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits- Contemporary-Perspectives/dp/1584659556). 29 https://red.org/ 30 https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility 31 https://starbuckschannel.com/ 32 https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwincunningham/2015/09/09/how-every-brand-became-a-media-company/ 33 https://contently.com/strategist/2016/04/20/ask-content-guy-whats-difference-sponsored-content-native-advertising/ 17 and has been used by brands ranging from MINI to cookstove for a family in Africa (personal, achievable). Allstate across outlets ranging from The Wall Street In fact, the single clean cookstoves article resulted in Journal to The Atlantic. readers donating enough money to buy almost 200 cookstoves for families in need. Using conversion data Content KPIs is a good way to test which narratives are effective so Traditionally, the performance of content marketing they can be more actively promoted. is substantially judged by KPIs like clicks, time on site, and completion rates. One Public Good study has Conversion to Sales shown that those metrics are half the picture at best. One frequent mistake (at least where cause is In fact, click and completion rates are good trackers concerned) is to aggressively mix ads and sponsored of content placement, promotion, and headline content. While it can be intuitive to think that writing. They are not great indicators of how well the wrapping content in a company’s logo and blocking content resonated with readers. For that, a call to competitors from buying ads on that content is a action analogous with a conversion event in direct winning tactic, it generally is not. Public Good’s data marketing is necessary. has shown 20-50% reduced interaction rates with content that is too heavily wrapped in ads. If the success of a cause strategy is mapped to direct sales, a better technique is to employ retargeting networks and social media targeting after a user has been exposed to sponsored content. This gets the brand message to a consumer without mixing a commercial and cause message prematurely. These approaches can draw the content into more of a traditional, multi- channel digital marketing campaign.

Call to Action Including a call to action in a narrative and providing a mechanism for a reader to do something This chart shows an example of a broad content test (analogous to making a purchase in e-commerce) has sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation the benefits of empowering the reader, earning the and produced/published by Upworthy. All of the right to communicate with them, and having them content was about food security, but each piece told experience the brand’s social impact in a kinesthetic a different specific story in a different way. The line on way rather than through passive consumption. It the graph represents readership; the bars show the is analogous to consideration and conversion in a percentage of people who took action. They are very traditional marketing funnel. It can also magnify the loosely correlated, a trend that has played out in other brand’s social impact through enlisting the resources similar experiments. of its customers. Elements that tend to create more powerful Examples of call to action microsites include State narratives include immediacy, empathy, and framing Farm’s Neighborhood of Good,34 Allstate’s Renewal a problem as big enough to be important, but small Project,35 and Patagonia’s ActionWorks.36 The enough to be addressable. For example, an article challenge of such microsites, though, is that they are on food deserts (big, hard to address) did less well ineffective if they don’t get traffic and attention, and than an article about the health impact of a clean it can be difficult to get marketing or communications

34 https://neighborhoodofgood.statefarm.com/ 35 https://www.therenewalproject.com 36 https://www.patagonia.com/actionworks 18 resources to promote these projects. One way around Cause Awareness refers to the stage of making a this obstacle is to think of them as chains. If a user has participant (employee, customer, or otherwise) aware just purchased a coat or an insurance policy, rather of the association between a brand and a cause. It’s than simply saying “thank you, see you next time,” usually too early to ask for active participation at this brands can say “thank you, and one more [cause- point, so the goal is to get the participant to agree to related] thing….” This simple change leverages communicate further (engage). Typical actions include the opportunity to make a converted customer reading more content, taking a quick poll, or signing into an advocate, and is effectively free to do since up for an email newsletter or social network group. the opportunity cost of being part of a thank you Cause Consideration can also be called experience is usually low. It is also among the most reinforcement. Once a participant has been exposed under-used strategies in the current marketplace. to the initial message, they are exposed to deeper Even Amazon under-utilizes its thank you experience. and repeated messaging about the cause and are actively invited to participate. Typical actions include Empowering Others’ Readers liking something, signing a petition, or participating in If a brand lacks the resources to generate dedicated an online group or conversation. Retargeting through content and narrative, or if it wants to augment its social media or even traditional networks can be existing strategy, one way to do so is to provide helpful at this stage. actionability on natural content produced by others. Cause Conversion is when the participant takes an This might take the form of an ad on related news action that has concrete impact. Examples include content, which is often cheap because product donating money, volunteering, giving blood, or marketing doesn’t tend to perform well in cause- buying a product with a cause component. related content. For example, an article about how Common missteps include skipping any of these people struggle in the aftermath of a family member steps (trying to get someone from awareness to being incarcerated is unlikely to be a good place to conversion immediately), stopping early (getting sell insurance or most other products, but it’s a very someone to sign a petition that goes nowhere), and effective place to showcase Allstate’s community not providing continuity among the steps for those renewal work and invite readers to help out. These who want to proceed quickly. One other non-obvious campaigns can be run through traditional ad aspect of a cause campaign is that participants networks or through a platform like Public Good’s may skip around among the different components, Take Action, which allows brands to sponsor action and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, campaigns in native news content across dozens of sharing is sometimes seen as a lower level action than major publishers. donating, but a donor should always be invited to This schematic share. Unlike traditional represents the commerce, the best time anatomy of a cause to ask someone to take campaign, and is another step with respect something of a to a cause is usually hybrid between a immediately after they’ve traditional marketing just taken one. funnel and a ladder of engagement. It gives representational channels for each stage, though there certainly are many others.

19 MAKING THE CASE FOR CAUSE

If an organization doesn’t have cause built in from its founding, it can be hard to get broad buy-in from the executive team. Usually the case needs to be made by the CEO, but even then, individuals do the work they are paid and incentivized to do — which often doesn’t include cause.

20 Discussing Cause with Senior Executives to use as a KPI and tie to employee incentives. The downside of B Corp certification is that it is While most executives are aware that cause is more focused on driving changes in governance, becoming more important to consumers, many sustainability, and other aspects of a company’s core are surprised to learn that respected consultancies business than on the brand’s social impact in the and agencies have done extensive research into communities it serves. It also does not take customer this trend. The reports they have produced provide or employee perceptions into account. From a cause much useful data and are worth reviewing in their perspective, the main takeaway is the concept of entirety. A one-page summary of some key findings is a single score against which a company can track, included at the end of this guide. benchmark, and incentivize its performance. In this The other crucial point to make clear is that the guide, that idea is represented in the idea of an goal of adopting cause is to influence core business Impact Net Promoter Score. KPIs. However, it’s important to stress that for Public Benefit Corporations are a legal structure cause to be successful in driving business change, that allows a for-profit business to tie itself to a pro- it requires a long-term commitment and may take social goal in addition to its profit goals.38 Since several tests to implement successfully. A real it is a legal form and not a certification, statutes commitment to cause can take years, not days or vary from state to state, but they share the goal of weeks, but the positive change is equally durable creating a framework for a cause-driven company to once it has been achieved. thrive. In most states, benefit corporations complete How to Institutionalize Cause a self-assessment, but they are given a choice of which assessment to use (they can use the B Corp For cause to be sustainable within an organization, assessment or another more tailored to their needs.) it needs champions at the highest level. Sometimes, They are also encouraged to wrap a metric around structural changes can also be helpful. Frameworks their mission and to have a designated member of for doing this include B Corp Certification, formation the board of directors advocating for the cause. Even of a Public Benefit Corporation, and the adoption of traditional corporations can appoint a board member best practices from those structures. to this advocacy, creating high level buy-in for cause- Broadly, B Corporations are for-profit companies based initiatives. certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous Large companies are already producing reports on standards of social and environmental performance, their sustainability and corporate social responsibility accountability, and transparency.37 B Corps complete work. But very few have tied these reports to growth an assessment annually that measures their success metrics to hold themselves accountable for the in meeting these objectives and allows them to overall success of their cause initiatives. Crossing that benchmark themselves relative to other purpose- bridge will make cause fundamental to the corporate driven companies. Since the B Corp assessment mission. generates a single numerical score, it can be useful

37 https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps 38 http://benefitcorp.net/ 21 CASE STUDIES

22 The Parkland Shooting this debate came from major firearms retailers like Walmart, Dick’s, and LL Bean. All three voluntarily As this paper was being written, many of its principles raised their purchasing age for long guns from 18 to were displayed in the aftermath of the shooting at 21, and some decided to stop carrying assault rifles. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Their actions spoke particularly loudly since those Florida. The student response and public reaction decisions could impact their core businesses, and was directed not just at the NRA and public policy, were not just promotion programs. As Dick’s CEO but at major corporations as well. Students began Edward Stack said in his Washington Post Op Ed,40 an effective social media campaign encouraging “This issue transcends our company’s bottom line. We people to boycott brands that supported the NRA. suspected that speaking out would have a negative They determined to use their purchasing power to impact on our business. But this was about our values pressure brands to conform to their social values and standing up for what we think is right.” with speed and scale not previously seen. Brands So far, this situation has proven to be a case study ranging from First National Bank of Omaha (issuer in Generation Z mobilization, their wish to see of the NRA credit card) to those that offered NRA corporations take stands on social issues, and how members group rates and discounts (most major car they will reward and punish those that do or do not rental agencies) began pulling back those programs. stand with them. One brand that tried to straddle the issue was FedEx, which issued a statement condemning violence and Data and Democracy stating that it was against assault rifles, but attempted to cloud the issue of its NRA discount program by Another story in the news of the moment is that of referencing common carrier laws. While the jury Facebook and the use of its data during the 2016 41 is still out on the final results of this conversation, presidential election. Broadly, it has become clear Forbes has already dismissed FedEx’s statement as that a substantial amount of users’ personal data “a learning moment for all PR people and brand was made available to the firm Cambridge Analytica, communicators on WHAT NOT TO DO!”39 which used it to create social media campaigns for Although at the moment of writing none have its client, the Trump Campaign. As of writing, it is not capitulated, there entirely clear whether the was also pressure data was gathered under on the major online false pretenses (under the streaming services to guise of academic research) sever their ties with or just very efficiently mined NRA TV. This tweet in ways that are permissible from Sleeping Giants, under Facebook’s terms of an account that seeks use (even if they are poorly to hold marketers understood by consumers.) accountable for For the purposes of this where their ads case study, those facts are appear, summed substantially irrelevant, as up a lot of popular is Facebook’s uneven and sentiment pretty well. sometimes conflicting public Perhaps the most response. What is relevant is interesting part of how this incident illustrates

39 https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaronkwittken/2018/02/28/quickly-unpacking-the-fedex-nra-press-statement/ 40 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-run-dicks-sporting-goods-its-congresss-turn-to-do-something-about- guns/2018/03/21/3dd1b040-2c3f-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html?utm_term=.41f45c2044e4 41 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-cambridge-analytica-explained.html 23 that a company may quickly fall victim to very real This is not to say that Facebook does not do consequences if consumer sentiment turns against social good. Its Safety Check feature,46 which allows it. In this case, Facebook risks not only regulatory people to make sure loved ones are safe after a backlash and long-term consumer distrust, but has natural disaster, is a transformative innovation that lost more than $40 billion in market capitalization in a ought to be lauded. And Zuckerberg’s personal single day. It is now under investigation by the FTC, commitment to doing good by putting the majority and its whole business model is being questioned.42 of his fortune in the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative It is not yet clear how long-lasting the damage will appears to be focused on social impact, though its be given Facebook’s industry dominance. Also, given novel structure and somewhat ambiguous mission that he personally controls the voting majority of statement make it a bit unclear whether it’s meant to Facebook stock, it’s virtually certain that CEO Mark be a specialty venture fund or a flexible, innovative Zuckerberg won’t suffer the same fate as Equifax alternative to a foundation.47 In fact, Facebook has CEO Richard Smith, who stepped down following moved from being a true social impact company that company’s similarly sized data exploit. But the into a more primitive form in the impact evolution reputational damage is real, and there’s little to — a pure for-profit company with a division focused counter it. Right now, Facebook would ideally be on impact that sits apart from the core business making the case that its product overwhelmingly (in most places, this is called CSR, but Facebook benefits people relative to the damage alleged in uses the Silicon Valley nomenclature “X for Good” this incident, but it is having trouble framing that and calls the team Facebook for Good). While this argument — because, at least in part, it has wandered division does great work, it lacks proportionality to from its original path of being a social impact Facebook’s core business. For example, the social company. network celebrated the fact that it raised more than In Facebook’s early days, Zuckerberg phrased $10 million for Hurricane Harvey relief as well as a $1 the company’s goal as “to make the world more million corporate match.48 But given that individual open and connected,” but as the company has celebrities and media stations using crowdfunding increasingly shifted its focus to profitability, it has lost sites raised far more, and the size of the response that perception.43 One direct consequence of this relative to Facebook’s 2017 profits of roughly $17 move has been the impact on nonprofits, who have billion, this amount seems a lot less impressive. While lost the organic promotion opportunities Facebook it’s fair to say that hurricane response isn’t Facebook’s used to offer and now must try to negotiate with paid business, so any contribution deserves praise, that promotion options.44 Early on, Facebook encouraged equally points to the flaw in its approach. Regardless nonprofits to migrate their online activity to Facebook of scale, hurricane response fails the authenticity test pages. In just a few months, however, algorithmic for Facebook, so it doesn’t stick in people’s minds or changes resulted in these organizations losing 98% or make as much of a difference with users. more of their organic reach.45 Since only the biggest Anecdotal evidence suggests that users do not organizations had budget or marketing expertise to see Facebook as furthering social impact any more, adjust to the change, the shift created widespread and that has led them to be more critical now that chaos and distrust among nonprofits, feelings that the company is under the spotlight. Few if any users linger to this day. are coming to the company’s defense in the way they might if it was more associated with authentic

42 http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/technology/business/facebook-data-privacy-crisis/ 43 https://www.wsj.com/articles/profitable-learning-curve-for-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-1388975900 44 https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/02/11/as-organic-facebook-traffic-disappears-nonprofits-pay-the-price/ 45 https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2014/08/15/facebook-s-new-policy-is-damaging-nonprofits/ 46 https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2017/08/21/facebook-making-safety-check-easier-find/ 47 https://www.chanzuckerberg.com/about 48 http://www.adweek.com/digital/facebook-hurricane-harvey-10-million/ 24 or relevant social causes. As early Facebook investor the public on vital issues relating to social media and Roger McNamee put it, “I told them, ‘Your business society from privacy to democracy, and has created is based on trust, and you’re losing trust.’ They were a Digital Citizenship curriculum that’s taught by more treating it as a P.R. problem, when it’s a business than 500,000 teachers and provides recommendations problem. I couldn’t believe these guys I once knew so for apps and screen time policies.50 While the well had gotten so far off track.”49 While social impact organization is occasionally critical of Facebook and is not a panacea for all of the company’s problems, it other social platforms, it is not analogous to an anti- could have helped build credibility and resiliency in a smoking organization. It encourages responsible use, time of crisis. Given that, how could Facebook have not total disengagement. In fact, it is arguably exactly done better without blocking revenue growth? One what Facebook for Good ought to look like. If it was, example comes from many of the company’s own it seems very likely the company wouldn’t be so lonely former executives. They founded Common Sense right now. Media, an organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in the age of social media. The organization has hosted conferences to engage with lawmakers and

49 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-alex-stamos.html 50 https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship 25 TOOLS AND RESOURCES

26 Outreach deeper asks. A more engaged user not only provides greater leverage for a cause campaign (they are more Public Good offers a wide range of customizable likely to take an impactful action), but is also much widgets including chatbots, buttons, and cards that more likely to associate the brand with the cause make branded content actionable rather than just over time. Public Good provides tools for continuing something to be passively consumed. For example, the dialogue through email, Facebook Messenger, a beverages company with a clean water cause can and other direct communications channels, as well as produce posts about water scarcity and use the through ad retargeting networks and a deepening, widgets to empower users to engage (by reading personalized experience using our widgets. For more related content or signing up for a newsletter example, the first time someone sees a widget about or social media group) and take impactful actions water scarcity, the primary ask is that they read more (such as donating to a clean water charity, sharing or spread the word. If they do one of those things, the message, volunteering, or even contacting a they’ll be thanked the next time, and then asked politician.) In addition, Public Good has partnerships to consider donating money or cutting their own with major media outlets allowing for sponsored water use. Users can also join social media groups widgets on related content that naturally occurs in celebrating their work on the causes they care about. the news cycle. For example, the beverages company could also sponsor its water widgets on articles about Destinations and Integrations the water shortages in Cape Town. This provides a very cost-effective supplement to branded content Often, a brand will want to include its cause work and can greatly extend reach. It also gives the brand directly in its own consumer marketing, website, or a way to rapidly respond to the news cycle when even ecommerce flow. Public Good provides a variety an issue related to the brand’s cause is top of mind. of widgets and APIs that can dramatically speed Using these widgets allows a brand to gather a great the development of these sites and flows as well as deal of useful data that wasn’t previously available, reduce costs, implement best practices, and provide including conversion (how the content is resonating.) an analytic framework to ensure success. It also allows the brand to make readers addressable so they can continue the conversation. Sponsored For More Information widgets perform between 10x and 1,000x better than Contact [email protected], follow us traditional ads in terms of engagement rates. @publicgood, or check out some current campaigns at https://pgs.io/live. We look forward to hearing Ongoing Dialogue from you and helping you develop your cause A key component of any cause campaign is strategy and campaigns. acknowledging a participant’s previous engagement and building a ladder of engagement51 towards

51 https://medium.com/@jack_milroy/digital-organizing-101-what-is-a-ladder-of-engagement-and-why-do-i-need-one-c523b5874e16 27 CLOSING NOTE Some in the social impact community, including people at corporate foundations, nonprofits, and elsewhere, continue to make the case that social impact should be done for its own sake, because it is the right thing to do. Nothing in this guide disputes that point, but completely altruistic programs are difficult to implement or maintain. Our argument is simply that the amount of resources in corporate foundations and CSR departments will always be dwarfed by the amount dedicated to marketing, so if social good can be married to promotion, it will vastly increase overall corporate impact. That doesn’t need to be something to be shy about. Iit can truly be a way to do well by doing good.

28 WHY CAUSE MATTERS: THE EMERGING LANDSCAPE A One-Page Summary for Executives

Impact is rising. More than 89% of Americans Social impact matters to employee loyalty. 45% and over 57% of global consumers are buying or more Millennials will stay at a job more than 5 years boycotting a brand based on how it aligns with their when offered an opportunity to make social impact social values. This is up 30% from a year ago. The vs. when they are not. (2017 Deloitte Millennial Survey) switch is most prevalent in Millennial consumers, with 60% identifying as cause-driven globally. (2017 Cone Consumers want to help with social impact. They Communications CSR Survey / 2017 Edelman Earned Brand want to donate (82%), volunteer (74%), and advocate study) for (69%) their brands’ causes and doing so makes them more loyal (76%). (2017 Cone Communications CSR Impact is crucial, not a nice to have. Of belief- Survey) driven consumers, 50% have strongly held, passionate beliefs and see their purchasing as a key Key Sources way for them to be able to express their personal https://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanInsights/2017- beliefs. (2017 Edelman Earned Brand Survey) edelman-earned-brand

Impact-focused consumers are advocates. 48% https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about- of belief-driven consumers advocate for their deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html brands and defend them against critics. (2017 Cone Communications CSR Survey / 2017 Edelman Earned Brand http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2017-csr- study) study

Non-participation is not an option. 65% of belief- driven buyers will avoid a brand because it stayed silent on an issue they feel it had an obligation to address. (2017 Edelman Earned Brand Survey)

29 About the Authors

Dan Ratner is a serial entrepreneur, technologist, writer, and impact investor. He’s co-founder and CEO of Public Good, the leader in connecting the media and brands with actions people can take to make a difference in the world. He’s also co-author of two books on nanotechnology, and an investment committee member of Impact Engine. Previously, he was the Director of Technology at Obama for America 2012 and CTO of Sittercity, America’s first and largest service dedicated to finding quality care online. He’s a frequent speaker on technology, data science, and cause marketing and he’s an advisor on social issues and impact to Digital Hollywood’s Influencer Awards. He lives in Chicago with his incredible wife Genevieve Thiers and amazing twin sons Leo and Ari.

Stacy Ratner is the founder of nonprofit social venture Open Books, which serves 5,000 students each year through an array of transformative programs funded by the sale of used books in its two Chicago stores, and of the Chicago Literacy Alliance, whose 125 member organizations provide programs to more than 18 million people annually and which is headquartered at the Literacenter, North America’s first nonprofit coworking space dedicated to literacy. Her social impact work has received honors including Chicago Magazine’s Chicagoan of the Year, the Social Enterprise Alliance’s Innovation prize, the Library of Congress’s Best Practices in Literacy award, and a Youn Impact Scholarship at Northwestern University. Stacy holds degrees in law and literature and will receive her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 2018.

Acknowledgements Many thanks to Melissa Anderson, Amelia Chen, and the rest of the team at Public Good who provided insights and data for this guide. Also thanks to the teams at Edelman and Porter Novelli for their leadership, data, engagement, and feedback.